Appeal filed to prevent driver from being charged with attempted murder of deputy

Public Defender Linda Thompson is appealing in the higher court a Mendocino County Superior Court judge's decision to hold the driver to answer a first-degree attempted murder charge for his passenger's alleged shooting at a deputy sheriff's car during a high-speed chase earlier this year.

Christopher Skaggs allegedly sped away from Mendocino County Sheriff's Office deputy Darren Brewster, who stopped the 1995 Thunderbird Skaggs drove on the night of Feb. 25. During the ensuing high-speed chase, passenger Walter K. Miller allegedly leaned out the window and shot at Brewster's patrol car, hit the radiator and disabled the car about two miles after turning onto the winding Highway 253 south of Ukiah.

"My client did not have the same mental state that Mr. Miller did," Thompson said outside the courtroom Friday, reiterating her previous arguments in court that Skaggs was just the driver, and that his speeding away from Brewster's stop may have saved the deputy's life.

Thompson said that Miller had pulled a gun while Brewster approached the window, and had told Skaggs to "duck," but Skaggs had instead sped away.

Skaggs and Miller appeared Friday in court for a pretrial conference, where Thompson learned that Judge Jeanine Nadel had denied her motion to reverse another judge's ruling that Skaggs should face the first-degree attempted murder charge.

Prosecutor Matt Hubley of the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office argued at the July 11 hearing on Thompson's motion that Skaggs crossed the center line on the winding Highway 253 in order to give Miller a better shot at the deputy's car.

Thompson disputes that point, and plans to take it to the state Court of Appeals.

"He was unfamiliar with the road, and he was swerving," Thompson said.

She's hoping to get the first-degree attempted murder charge removed from the list of charges against Skaggs. He and co-defendant Miller also face charges of reckless evading and assault with a firearm, as well as first-degree burglary and robbery after some of the items reported stolen from a Potter Valley home earlier the same night were found in the abandoned T-bird, left in a driveway in the 6000 block of Highway 253.

Judge John Behnke found enough evidence at a May preliminary hearing to hold both men to answer the charges, including first-degree attempted murder. Nadel denied Thompson's motion to reverse that ruling, and Thompson is asking the higher court to reverse the local court's ruling.

The Appellate Court may summarily deny such a request without giving a reason, Thompson said, adding that she's only seen such an appeal prevail "a handful" of times in her career. She continues to negotiate with the District Attorney's Office, which she said at first offered 16 years in prison.

"I want 10 years," Thompson said.

If Skaggs, 30, were to be convicted of first-degree attempted murder, he would begin to serve the life sentence it would carry after serving sentences for the other charges, meaning he could potentially not be eligible for parole for more than 20 years, Thompson said.

Miller and Skaggs are due in court in October for trial, and on Aug. 23 for another pretrial conference.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter and Tout @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.